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The old line goes > Your BMI tells me your overweight. > But rugby players BMIs are high, and they aren't overweight! > You don't play rugby though do you. I'

The old line goes > Your BMI tells me your overweight. > But rugby players BMIs are high, and they aren't overweight! > You don't play rugby though do you. I'm glad that "fat acceptance" may be turning a corner and will be banished hopefully and there can be a semblance of rational discourse. Ideally you should be a BMI 22, non smoking, non drinking, long distance runner living in the countryside eating a perfectly balanced diet. Mosy of us will achieve all that, just do what you can. There's loads of nasty ways to mess up your health. Being fat seems to be the most appealing one (I get to eat what I want and sit around all day? Hell yeah!).

iLoveOncall 4y ago
> Being fat seems to be the most appealing one It's not the most appealing one, it's the hardest one to manage. You can not smoke, you can not drink alcohol, you can not take drugs, but you cannot not eat.
- arcanemachiner 4y ago
  You can eat real food instead of processed garbage, for starters. Nobody's getting fat eating vegetables.
  - crazygringo 4y ago
    Actually, cutting potatoes and other starchy vegetables is a major part of weight loss for a lot of people. High-starch vegetables are a major contributor to obesity.
    - choeger 4y ago
      I call bullshit. The average cooked potatoe has 25% less calories than rice or pasta. You'd have to eat 3kg of cooked potatoes to get 2100kcal. I am pretty certain it is near impossible to get fat from eating potatoes. Go give it a try. I bet that it is the "frying" part or the sauce or butter that comes with it, that leaves a lasting impression on the hips.
      - amrocha 4y ago
        Brother, weight lifters literally eat sweet potatoes to put on weight
        stametseater 4y ago
        [dead]
  - stametseater 4y ago
    There's a popular internet myth that junk food is cheaper than veggies. Of course it isn't true; junk food is more expensive by weight than anything in the produce aisle, with possible exceptions for exotic imported fruits. How this myth survives people wandering around a grocery store looking at price stickers is beyond my comprehension. A 5lb bag of potatoes costs less than a half pound bag of potato chips.
    - huijzer 4y ago
      It's probably the difference in looking at weight versus calories. A cauliflower is, on average, 0.7-0.9 kg (1.5-2 pounds) and provides about 25 calories. A McDonalds burger is, on average, 0.2 kg (0.441 pounds) with about 250 calories. The cauliflower currently costs about 3 euros (yes, you read that right) in the Netherlands while a burger costs around 7 euros. So, calories per euro is 8 for the cauliflower and 35 for the burger.
      - frumper 4y ago
        I want to see this mythical almost half pound burger that is only 250 calories. The "hamburger" that is 250 calories has a patty less than 2 ounces, and hardly anything on it. I doubt the bun weights 1/4 pound.
      - amon22 4y ago
        A head of cauliflower is around 210 calories when cooked, similar to the cheeseburger in your example.
        amrocha 4y ago
        A head of cauliflower is not a meal
      - hexedpackets 4y ago
        A cup of cauliflower is about 25 calories. A 2 pound head of cauliflower is 224 calories, only about 10% less than the burger.
    - 4y ago
  - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
    Healthy food can be fattening and unhealthy food can be not fattening. It has very little to do with the type of food and everything to do with the density of calories in the food, and the amount of that food eaten. No one ever got fat eating only vegetables. But you can't eat only vegetables and get all the necessary nutrients(at least not easily).
    - stametseater 4y ago
      > No one ever got fat eating only vegetables. But you can't eat only vegetables and get all the necessary nutrients(at least not easily). Throw some eggs or lean chicken meat into the mix and you've got a complete diet that would be very difficult to become fat on.
    - vjk800 4y ago
      You can, it's called veganism and lots of people do it. However, you don't have to be that "extreme". Just eating mostly vegetables and cutting out all the obvious crap will do. The fact that this is somehow unimaginably strict to many people just shows how completely fucked up our relationship with food is. Most of the foods that make us fat didn't even exist a hundred years ago (at least in its modern, highly processed form) and now people somehow can't imagine living without them.
      - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
        Sure, but to be vegan you have to know wtf you're doing, because it's really easy to get malnourished in various ways. And unless you want to eat nasty fermented beans or something you need b12 supplements at the very least. Getting iron from non-heme sources is also kind of hit-or-miss.
    - pkolaczk 4y ago
      Our bodies are not adjusted to eating food with high calory density. Junk food messes up the system the way you feel hungry despite eating enough calories, and that leads to eating too much and becoming obese. You're right that eating the right number of calories in junk food won't make you obese, but it is extremely hard to eat the right number of calories when eating mostly junk food. Eat healthy food, and eat only when you're hungry, and most likely your body would auto-regulate the calory intake just fine.
  - iLoveOncall 4y ago
    Say that to all the obese vegetarians and vegans then? Not eating processed food doesn't mean eating healthy.
- mancerayder 4y ago
  You can cease buying sugary foods and snacks like chips at the supermarket when you shop. You can explore swapping macros a bit so there's a bias in favor of eggs and fish and other protein. You can try to cut down eating between meals. The idea of Predestination with regards to eating needs to stop. If there is a psychological addiction then that's the part to be addressed, it's a valid concern. I see what people eat - even people that are not obese - and it's disgusting. I can see at work, at restaurants, even walking in the streets what people eat. That this is 'normal' is what we have to actually try to stigmatize. Donuts, muffins, giant appetizes at dinner, all that stuff should be almost never eaten. Birthday cakes? All that stuff will become disgusting and nauseating to you if you step away from it for just a few months, and your body adapts away from sugar and carbs. It might be hard in the beginning as your metabolism struggles to adjust and keep signaling for you to eat more. And for the record - not drinking alcohol is a lot harder than not eating for many people I know.
  - iLoveOncall 4y ago
    None of this matters when it comes to pure weight. You can eat the most healthy diet in the world and still be massively obese. On the other hand I have successfully lost 100 lbs in 6 months in the past, while eating fast food daily. I won't discuss the "healthiness" aspect of it, but losing weight is ONLY a matter of calories.
    - oska 4y ago
      > You can eat the most healthy diet in the world and still be massively obese. Strongly doubt this assertion
    - mancerayder 4y ago
      Then you're lucky. I a) intermittent fast, so never eat breakfast b) never eat dessert c) don't snack d) lift weights 3x a week and do other sports once a week e) don't eat fast food, and often skip appetizers, and stick to protein and veggies. If I don't do these things I get fat fast. So my sympathy for 'unlucky' is minimal; I'm sure only a small percentage of people suffer from such a poor metabolism that anything they eat causes the to gain weight. The rest choose not to put the effort in.
kennywinker 4y ago
> I get to eat what I want and sit around all day? Hell yeah! I am naturally thin. That statement ("i get to eat what i want and sit around all day") is true of my body. Is it such a strange idea that there are as many people who are naturally thin as there are that are naturally fat? Those people aren't making a choice to be fat any more than i am making a choice to be thin. Why should they feel bad about their body?
- oska 4y ago
  Intriguingly, it seems that the vast majority of the population of North Korea are 'naturally thin' and virtually every young person you see in footage of 1960s USA too. IOW, 'naturally thin' is a bogus idea.
- 700000thMistake 4y ago
  >Those people aren't making a choice to be fat any more than i am making a choice to be thin. What an interesting take. Are you saying that people do not essentially "choose" what weight to be by their eating habits?
- frankzander 4y ago
  They choose it a bit. First eating all the day long some crap (sweets, processed food, fiberless industrial food), drinking sweet sodas and not walking/doing real sports is a choice. It's the choice to live unhealthy. They should feel bad the same way smokers should feel bad. It's quite a disrespect for oneself.
  - amrocha 4y ago
    There's people that don't do all that and are still fat, and making them "feel bad" about it is counter productive. In fact, the research on losing weight is quite clear: once you've put on weight, losing it and keeping it off is nearly impossible, and requires life long constant effort. Instead of focusing on individual behavior, you should be speaking out against a government that built a car society, made cities hostile to walking and biking, and made cheap unhealthy food the easiest and cheapest option for most.
emilyst 4y ago
It is bizarre that you would read an article which says, “using body-mass index (BMI) to measure obesity is likely the most problematic factor,” and then immediately prescribe a fixed BMI for everyone without qualification.
- Jtsummers 4y ago
  Indeed, especially the 22 BMI target. For me (5'10") that would mean 155lbs, I'd have to shed (going by my scale which estimates body fat percentage) around 28 lbs of fat (I'm at 15% fat right now, so 28 lbs would get me to 0% which is unhealthy) and 7lbs of other weight to hit that target. Could I lose some weight? Sure. But I won't. Back on the exercise habit after a few months off and I'm getting slimmer but my weight is staying the same, as I would expect it to based on my previous experience (I pack on muscle easily). BMI is a useful heuristic (BMI over 30 and not a powerlifter? Probably unhealthy, let's look at other characteristics and see how unhealthy and how to address it) but a terrible target until you know your own body.
  - 11235813213455 4y ago
    > until you know your own body that part is tricky, takes a lot of time, experiments But also I think the body shape makes a big diff, I have very thin limbs, long legs, my best BMI is between 17 and 18, without limiting myself in food quantity (I alwways eat as much as I can, tho I naturally like to eat 1 or 2 meals a day max)
  - otherme123 4y ago
    I'm 185 cm (6'1") and 73 kg (161 lbs), for a BMI of 21.3. I still have more than 0% fat, but I'm certainly slim. I don't have to fight at all to keep my weight as it is, and I'm healthy. You say 30 BMI, but in my experience unless you are lifting a lot of weights 25 is the upper limit. Ten years ago I hit 25 BMI, and despite feeling "normal" there were already the first signs of being fat: thights always red, sweaty all day and way less resistance than today. I lost 15 kg (33 lbs) not by doing crazy exercise, but by cutting 100% of shitty food and eating beyond necesity.
npalli 4y ago
> Ideally you should be a BMI 22, non smoking, non drinking, long distance runner living in the countryside eating a perfectly balanced diet. All good except the long distance runner part. Don't think it is equivocally good as the others and may be potentially harmful (key is the long part, short/medium is good).
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
  Walking in inclined, rough terrain is arguably more versatile exercise, and far, far less depressing to me. Hell, it actually lifts my mood. Jogging on asphalt just makes my joints hurt and it makes me feel like I'm administering some pathetic modern substitute to the primal need to be active and to be in nature, which just depresses me. Same with everything gym based.
  - Tade0 4y ago
    I wondered why I couldn't keep my swimming regime, despite generally liking this sort of activity. The only time I have some space is during winter, when few people use the outdoor pool and that is still a 20x10m rectangle, where I have to swim in circles like some captive orca.
    - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
      My main issue is finding exercise in the winter time I can motivate myself to do. Despite growing up in Norway I just hate snow. And my favourite forest trail which is literally right outside my door is a death trap in the winter because it's in a river valley. One slip and I end up falling 50m face down into a frozen river.
paulcole 4y ago
One issue is that for the betterment of society in regards to climate change, dense urban living is undoubtedly better than spread out living in the countryside. Assuming we want to maintain current population, of course.
CharlesW 4y ago
> I'm glad that "fat acceptance" may be turning a corner and will be banished hopefully and there can be a semblance of rational discourse. TFA doesn't even use the phrase "fat acceptance", which is a completely different thing than claiming "obesity is healthy". The former is simply an effort to destigmatize it, like we destigmatize other forms of addiction. Also, "obesity is healthy" is a strawman — no credible person or group has ever asserted this. If you search for "obesity is healthy", you'll see that every result makes it clear that obesity is not healthy.
- gadders 4y ago
  It's greed acceptance.
- noslenwerdna 4y ago
  > Also, "obesity is healthy" is a strawman That simply isn't true. Just look into the "Health at Every Size" movement. There are some reasonable ideas there, like destigmatizing it as you mentioned. But there are also some harmful and ridiculous ideas prevalent in that movement - namely that "weight loss should not be a health goal". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size
  - CharlesW 4y ago
    IMHO you have a low-generosity reading of the article you linked to, which says that this approach "de-emphasises weight loss as a health goal", and that "the basic premise of HAES is that 'well-being and healthy habits are more important than any number on the scale'". This lines up with my experience. One can do things like the Potato Diet to lose 100 pounds fairly quickly, but it's definitely not a healthy way to lose weight, and it doesn't equip you to remain at a healthy weight for the rest of your life.
    - noslenwerdna 4y ago
      I don't think my reading is that low on generosity. The founder of the movement wrote an article called "More people should be fat." There are certainly bad diets out there, but they aren't just opposed to bad diets. It's simply not possible to be healthy at any size Fat people should not be bullied, but normalizing obesity is actively harmful to the public health. It's like normalizing smoking.
api 4y ago
“Fat acceptance” doesn’t have to imply that it’s healthy, just that you don’t have to be a complete jerk to overweight people.
- gadders 4y ago
  You shouldn't lie and enable them either.
ofcourseyoudo 4y ago
> Ideally you should be a BMI 22, non smoking, non drinking, long distance runner living in the countryside eating a perfectly balanced diet. I wonder what the attributes of the commenter are
- psychphysic 4y ago
  > Mosy of us will achieve all that, just do what you can. Should be > Most of us will never achieve all that, just do what you can. The mistake dramatically changed the tone of my comment but it lead to much more interesting discourse... Happy little accident?
gadders 4y ago
You need to lift weights more than you need to run long distance.
- procinct 4y ago
  Cardio is certainly important for old age given how common heart disease is. Ideally you would train strength, cardio and mobility.
  - gadders 4y ago
    Agreed, in an ideal world you'd do them all. Cardio is useful but won't protect you from or prevent a fall. Strength training will.
11235813213455 4y ago
on the other end, I'm 1.83m and 58-60kg since many years (I'm now 37) so a BMI 17-18, and it's my best shape, certainly not underweight. I have really thin bones & limbs (for example I can join my thumb and any other finger around my wrist, thin waist, legs a little bit stronger)
anonzzzies 4y ago
What is your age? Let’s see in 30 years. Most young people have these strong opinions, but life happens and they end up differently. Being lean and mean when young is a lot easier then when you are 50 or 60.

iLoveOncall 4y ago

> Being fat seems to be the most appealing one It's not the most appealing one, it's the hardest one to manage. You can not smoke, you can not drink alcohol, you can not take drugs, but you cannot not eat.

arcanemachiner 4y ago
You can eat real food instead of processed garbage, for starters. Nobody's getting fat eating vegetables.
- crazygringo 4y ago
  Actually, cutting potatoes and other starchy vegetables is a major part of weight loss for a lot of people. High-starch vegetables are a major contributor to obesity.
  - choeger 4y ago
    I call bullshit. The average cooked potatoe has 25% less calories than rice or pasta. You'd have to eat 3kg of cooked potatoes to get 2100kcal. I am pretty certain it is near impossible to get fat from eating potatoes. Go give it a try. I bet that it is the "frying" part or the sauce or butter that comes with it, that leaves a lasting impression on the hips.
    - amrocha 4y ago
      Brother, weight lifters literally eat sweet potatoes to put on weight
      - stametseater 4y ago
        [dead]
- stametseater 4y ago
  There's a popular internet myth that junk food is cheaper than veggies. Of course it isn't true; junk food is more expensive by weight than anything in the produce aisle, with possible exceptions for exotic imported fruits. How this myth survives people wandering around a grocery store looking at price stickers is beyond my comprehension. A 5lb bag of potatoes costs less than a half pound bag of potato chips.
  - huijzer 4y ago
    It's probably the difference in looking at weight versus calories. A cauliflower is, on average, 0.7-0.9 kg (1.5-2 pounds) and provides about 25 calories. A McDonalds burger is, on average, 0.2 kg (0.441 pounds) with about 250 calories. The cauliflower currently costs about 3 euros (yes, you read that right) in the Netherlands while a burger costs around 7 euros. So, calories per euro is 8 for the cauliflower and 35 for the burger.
    - frumper 4y ago
      I want to see this mythical almost half pound burger that is only 250 calories. The "hamburger" that is 250 calories has a patty less than 2 ounces, and hardly anything on it. I doubt the bun weights 1/4 pound.
    - amon22 4y ago
      A head of cauliflower is around 210 calories when cooked, similar to the cheeseburger in your example.
      - amrocha 4y ago
        A head of cauliflower is not a meal
    - hexedpackets 4y ago
      A cup of cauliflower is about 25 calories. A 2 pound head of cauliflower is 224 calories, only about 10% less than the burger.
  - 4y ago
- mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
  Healthy food can be fattening and unhealthy food can be not fattening. It has very little to do with the type of food and everything to do with the density of calories in the food, and the amount of that food eaten. No one ever got fat eating only vegetables. But you can't eat only vegetables and get all the necessary nutrients(at least not easily).
  - stametseater 4y ago
    > No one ever got fat eating only vegetables. But you can't eat only vegetables and get all the necessary nutrients(at least not easily). Throw some eggs or lean chicken meat into the mix and you've got a complete diet that would be very difficult to become fat on.
  - vjk800 4y ago
    You can, it's called veganism and lots of people do it. However, you don't have to be that "extreme". Just eating mostly vegetables and cutting out all the obvious crap will do. The fact that this is somehow unimaginably strict to many people just shows how completely fucked up our relationship with food is. Most of the foods that make us fat didn't even exist a hundred years ago (at least in its modern, highly processed form) and now people somehow can't imagine living without them.
    - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
      Sure, but to be vegan you have to know wtf you're doing, because it's really easy to get malnourished in various ways. And unless you want to eat nasty fermented beans or something you need b12 supplements at the very least. Getting iron from non-heme sources is also kind of hit-or-miss.
  - pkolaczk 4y ago
    Our bodies are not adjusted to eating food with high calory density. Junk food messes up the system the way you feel hungry despite eating enough calories, and that leads to eating too much and becoming obese. You're right that eating the right number of calories in junk food won't make you obese, but it is extremely hard to eat the right number of calories when eating mostly junk food. Eat healthy food, and eat only when you're hungry, and most likely your body would auto-regulate the calory intake just fine.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  Say that to all the obese vegetarians and vegans then? Not eating processed food doesn't mean eating healthy.
mancerayder 4y ago
You can cease buying sugary foods and snacks like chips at the supermarket when you shop. You can explore swapping macros a bit so there's a bias in favor of eggs and fish and other protein. You can try to cut down eating between meals. The idea of Predestination with regards to eating needs to stop. If there is a psychological addiction then that's the part to be addressed, it's a valid concern. I see what people eat - even people that are not obese - and it's disgusting. I can see at work, at restaurants, even walking in the streets what people eat. That this is 'normal' is what we have to actually try to stigmatize. Donuts, muffins, giant appetizes at dinner, all that stuff should be almost never eaten. Birthday cakes? All that stuff will become disgusting and nauseating to you if you step away from it for just a few months, and your body adapts away from sugar and carbs. It might be hard in the beginning as your metabolism struggles to adjust and keep signaling for you to eat more. And for the record - not drinking alcohol is a lot harder than not eating for many people I know.
- iLoveOncall 4y ago
  None of this matters when it comes to pure weight. You can eat the most healthy diet in the world and still be massively obese. On the other hand I have successfully lost 100 lbs in 6 months in the past, while eating fast food daily. I won't discuss the "healthiness" aspect of it, but losing weight is ONLY a matter of calories.
  - oska 4y ago
    > You can eat the most healthy diet in the world and still be massively obese. Strongly doubt this assertion
  - mancerayder 4y ago
    Then you're lucky. I a) intermittent fast, so never eat breakfast b) never eat dessert c) don't snack d) lift weights 3x a week and do other sports once a week e) don't eat fast food, and often skip appetizers, and stick to protein and veggies. If I don't do these things I get fat fast. So my sympathy for 'unlucky' is minimal; I'm sure only a small percentage of people suffer from such a poor metabolism that anything they eat causes the to gain weight. The rest choose not to put the effort in.

kennywinker 4y ago

> I get to eat what I want and sit around all day? Hell yeah! I am naturally thin. That statement ("i get to eat what i want and sit around all day") is true of my body. Is it such a strange idea that there are as many people who are naturally thin as there are that are naturally fat? Those people aren't making a choice to be fat any more than i am making a choice to be thin. Why should they feel bad about their body?

oska 4y ago
Intriguingly, it seems that the vast majority of the population of North Korea are 'naturally thin' and virtually every young person you see in footage of 1960s USA too. IOW, 'naturally thin' is a bogus idea.
700000thMistake 4y ago
>Those people aren't making a choice to be fat any more than i am making a choice to be thin. What an interesting take. Are you saying that people do not essentially "choose" what weight to be by their eating habits?
frankzander 4y ago
They choose it a bit. First eating all the day long some crap (sweets, processed food, fiberless industrial food), drinking sweet sodas and not walking/doing real sports is a choice. It's the choice to live unhealthy. They should feel bad the same way smokers should feel bad. It's quite a disrespect for oneself.
- amrocha 4y ago
  There's people that don't do all that and are still fat, and making them "feel bad" about it is counter productive. In fact, the research on losing weight is quite clear: once you've put on weight, losing it and keeping it off is nearly impossible, and requires life long constant effort. Instead of focusing on individual behavior, you should be speaking out against a government that built a car society, made cities hostile to walking and biking, and made cheap unhealthy food the easiest and cheapest option for most.

emilyst 4y ago

It is bizarre that you would read an article which says, “using body-mass index (BMI) to measure obesity is likely the most problematic factor,” and then immediately prescribe a fixed BMI for everyone without qualification.

Jtsummers 4y ago
Indeed, especially the 22 BMI target. For me (5'10") that would mean 155lbs, I'd have to shed (going by my scale which estimates body fat percentage) around 28 lbs of fat (I'm at 15% fat right now, so 28 lbs would get me to 0% which is unhealthy) and 7lbs of other weight to hit that target. Could I lose some weight? Sure. But I won't. Back on the exercise habit after a few months off and I'm getting slimmer but my weight is staying the same, as I would expect it to based on my previous experience (I pack on muscle easily). BMI is a useful heuristic (BMI over 30 and not a powerlifter? Probably unhealthy, let's look at other characteristics and see how unhealthy and how to address it) but a terrible target until you know your own body.
- 11235813213455 4y ago
  > until you know your own body that part is tricky, takes a lot of time, experiments But also I think the body shape makes a big diff, I have very thin limbs, long legs, my best BMI is between 17 and 18, without limiting myself in food quantity (I alwways eat as much as I can, tho I naturally like to eat 1 or 2 meals a day max)
- otherme123 4y ago
  I'm 185 cm (6'1") and 73 kg (161 lbs), for a BMI of 21.3. I still have more than 0% fat, but I'm certainly slim. I don't have to fight at all to keep my weight as it is, and I'm healthy. You say 30 BMI, but in my experience unless you are lifting a lot of weights 25 is the upper limit. Ten years ago I hit 25 BMI, and despite feeling "normal" there were already the first signs of being fat: thights always red, sweaty all day and way less resistance than today. I lost 15 kg (33 lbs) not by doing crazy exercise, but by cutting 100% of shitty food and eating beyond necesity.

npalli 4y ago

> Ideally you should be a BMI 22, non smoking, non drinking, long distance runner living in the countryside eating a perfectly balanced diet. All good except the long distance runner part. Don't think it is equivocally good as the others and may be potentially harmful (key is the long part, short/medium is good).

mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
Walking in inclined, rough terrain is arguably more versatile exercise, and far, far less depressing to me. Hell, it actually lifts my mood. Jogging on asphalt just makes my joints hurt and it makes me feel like I'm administering some pathetic modern substitute to the primal need to be active and to be in nature, which just depresses me. Same with everything gym based.
- Tade0 4y ago
  I wondered why I couldn't keep my swimming regime, despite generally liking this sort of activity. The only time I have some space is during winter, when few people use the outdoor pool and that is still a 20x10m rectangle, where I have to swim in circles like some captive orca.
  - mtlmtlmtlmtl 4y ago
    My main issue is finding exercise in the winter time I can motivate myself to do. Despite growing up in Norway I just hate snow. And my favourite forest trail which is literally right outside my door is a death trap in the winter because it's in a river valley. One slip and I end up falling 50m face down into a frozen river.

paulcole 4y ago

One issue is that for the betterment of society in regards to climate change, dense urban living is undoubtedly better than spread out living in the countryside. Assuming we want to maintain current population, of course.

CharlesW 4y ago

> I'm glad that "fat acceptance" may be turning a corner and will be banished hopefully and there can be a semblance of rational discourse. TFA doesn't even use the phrase "fat acceptance", which is a completely different thing than claiming "obesity is healthy". The former is simply an effort to destigmatize it, like we destigmatize other forms of addiction. Also, "obesity is healthy" is a strawman — no credible person or group has ever asserted this. If you search for "obesity is healthy", you'll see that every result makes it clear that obesity is not healthy.

gadders 4y ago
It's greed acceptance.
noslenwerdna 4y ago
> Also, "obesity is healthy" is a strawman That simply isn't true. Just look into the "Health at Every Size" movement. There are some reasonable ideas there, like destigmatizing it as you mentioned. But there are also some harmful and ridiculous ideas prevalent in that movement - namely that "weight loss should not be a health goal". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Health_at_Every_Size
- CharlesW 4y ago
  IMHO you have a low-generosity reading of the article you linked to, which says that this approach "de-emphasises weight loss as a health goal", and that "the basic premise of HAES is that 'well-being and healthy habits are more important than any number on the scale'". This lines up with my experience. One can do things like the Potato Diet to lose 100 pounds fairly quickly, but it's definitely not a healthy way to lose weight, and it doesn't equip you to remain at a healthy weight for the rest of your life.
  - noslenwerdna 4y ago
    I don't think my reading is that low on generosity. The founder of the movement wrote an article called "More people should be fat." There are certainly bad diets out there, but they aren't just opposed to bad diets. It's simply not possible to be healthy at any size Fat people should not be bullied, but normalizing obesity is actively harmful to the public health. It's like normalizing smoking.

api 4y ago

“Fat acceptance” doesn’t have to imply that it’s healthy, just that you don’t have to be a complete jerk to overweight people.

gadders 4y ago
You shouldn't lie and enable them either.

ofcourseyoudo 4y ago

> Ideally you should be a BMI 22, non smoking, non drinking, long distance runner living in the countryside eating a perfectly balanced diet. I wonder what the attributes of the commenter are

psychphysic 4y ago
> Mosy of us will achieve all that, just do what you can. Should be > Most of us will never achieve all that, just do what you can. The mistake dramatically changed the tone of my comment but it lead to much more interesting discourse... Happy little accident?

gadders 4y ago

You need to lift weights more than you need to run long distance.

procinct 4y ago
Cardio is certainly important for old age given how common heart disease is. Ideally you would train strength, cardio and mobility.
- gadders 4y ago
  Agreed, in an ideal world you'd do them all. Cardio is useful but won't protect you from or prevent a fall. Strength training will.

11235813213455 4y ago

on the other end, I'm 1.83m and 58-60kg since many years (I'm now 37) so a BMI 17-18, and it's my best shape, certainly not underweight. I have really thin bones & limbs (for example I can join my thumb and any other finger around my wrist, thin waist, legs a little bit stronger)

anonzzzies 4y ago

What is your age? Let’s see in 30 years. Most young people have these strong opinions, but life happens and they end up differently. Being lean and mean when young is a lot easier then when you are 50 or 60.